The present invention is directed to a method of treatment for central nervous system diseases. These diseases for which the present inventive method has been found useful are: Alzheimer's disease; Parkinson's disease; senile dementia; essential tremor; senile tremor; and cerebellar atrophy and cerebral atrophy; multiple sclerosis; cerebrovascular accident. Each of these has been found to affect different portions of the brain. Alzheimer's disease affects the portion of the brain vital to memory retention, the cortex. Parkinson's disease is known to affect the nerve cells of the basal ganglia. Cerebellar atrophy is known to affect the nerve cells of the cerebellum. It has also been determined that in each of the above diseases, intrinsic depression develops, which is usually associated with an entirely different portion of the brain than those affected by the above-named diseases. It is also known that in each of these diseases characterized by biochemical lesions in enzymes, membranes, or structure proteins of particular components, cellular atrophy is the result, which is a slow process of cellular deterioration, sometimes deferred bes, but leading to cellular atrophy, and eventually resulting in serious functional loss, causing the symptoms associated with each of the diseases. Such cellular atrophy generally occurs with advancing age, but, owing to these diseases, the processes are somehow speeded up, in a manner not known or understood at the present time. What is certain, however, is that in any cellular breakdown, the enzymes required for protein synthesis are lacking. Further, it is also apparent that this lack of enzyme formation, and concomitant lack of protein synthesis, are caused by some interruption in the neural network through which biochemical signals are generated and transported. Thus, the very problem of each of these diseases runs to the basic structure of life: To wit, RNA and DNA, ribo nucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid, which program each cell to provide the necessary enzymes for life-sustaining activity.
Heretofore, there has been no effective method of treatment of each of the above-named diseases. In the case of Parkinson's disease, L-Dopa has been employed and has achieved some success. However, the period of efficacy of L-Dopa is limited to a few months. In the case of Alzheimer's disease, and the remainder of the above-named diseases, ergoloid myselates have been used to some small success.
The present invention is also directed to a method of diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease in human beings. Presently-used techniques for determining Alxheimer's disease include neuropsychological testing which compares the mental status of the patient relative to a norm, as well as the patient's cognitive dysfunction. Such testing also tests for mood depressions, agitation, irritability, and the like, all of which are symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Other diagnostic tools and methods are: The use of a brain atlas beam test or EEG (electroencephalogram) which demonstrate increases in delta and theta waves. It is, of course, most important that a correct diagnosis be determined in order to decide upon the best treatment. The present invention is directed towards the incorporation of a novel diagnosis for Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia, that may be used in conjunction with other standard testing methods, or may be used alone for such determination, since this novel diagnosis has been found to be very accurate, especially when used in conjunction with conventional diagnostic tests for other chronic degenerative diseases of the CNS form which similar indications may result. It has been known that the drug levodopa (L-Dopa), a common drug for treating Parkinson's disease, causes increased secretion of the growth hormone somatotropin (HGH-human growth hormone). This finding of Aroonsakul and Allen provocative test (AA provocative test) such as L-Dopa's provocative stimulation of the pituitary gland to secrete HGH was used as the basis for viewing the functioning of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) as an aminergic neuronetwork. Furthermore, since the hormone somatomedin-C (often referred to as IGF-I, for insulin-like growth factor) is directly dependent upon the secretion of HGH by the pituitary gland, there has been established a direct linkage between increased secretion of HGH and increased production of the hormone somatomedin-C, which is produced chiefly in the liver and kidneys. The use of L-Dopa to markedly increase the secretions of somatotropin and, consequently, the production of somatomedin-C in the human body has led to what is generally termed the "L-Dopa provocative test". This test is used to determine the normal functioning of the anterior region of the pituitary gland responsible for the HGH production. Generally, the AA provocative test is used by detecting the increase of HGH and IGF-I in a blood serum by the use of radioimmunoassy (RIA), which determines the presence or absence or the amounts of a certain hormone in a serum by the use of a radioactive agent, used in vitro. RIA involves separation of the labelled antigen that is of interest into bound-unbound fractions after the interaction with an antibody in the presence of the unknown quantity of unlabelled antigen to be measured. The radioactive element used in this determination is usually I-125.
Somatotropin is a growth hormone (polypeptic-link amino acid in character), secreted by the anterior region of the pituitary gland. This is also known as the human growth hormone (HGH), and is the precursor of the hormone somatomedin-C (IGF-I), produced by the liver and kidneys. According to the present invention, it has been discovered that patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease have a deficiency of somatotropin production which leads to a deficiency of somatomedin-C levels, and that exogenous stimulation by a drug to cause increased secretions of HGH in normal human subjects, does not function normally in Alzheimer's patients. Though it has been known to have increased levels of IGF-I in the blood with reduced levels of HGH, these instances are rare and can be taken into consideration when determining the diagnosis according to the present invention.